Jennifer was guided to the throne room by a whole troop of finely and neatly dressed guards. Lachersia was accompanying her as well, though she was silent and didn’t show too much of her presence.

Jennifer found their orderly marching way amusing and had to resist with all her willpower the urge to imitate them. By the time they went through the many corridors and floors of one tower, marched through the halls, corridors, floors and passages of another and finally arrived at the richly-ornamented double doors that were at least five meters tall that led to the throne room in the main building, she was so mentally exhausted from denying herself the satisfaction of play-imitating those stern professional soldiers in a rather ridiculing fashion she couldn’t care for whatever was waiting behind the doors.

Some lanky tall person that was dressed very gaudily and looked somewhat like a Christmas tree that was dipped into a vat full of liquid gold read some condescending speech that Jennifer didn’t bother to pay attention to and two bulky warriors with huge axes in their hands opened the door, finally revealing a very spacious room.

The room’s needlessly tall ceiling was supported by titanic pillars made of polished marble and three giant sparkling chandeliers that looked like masterful pieces of art hung off of it in a row. There were dozens upon dozens of shining orbs embedded in them that, even though the room lacked any windows, created a level of light that was as bright as the outside on a cloudless sunny day.

There were many banners woven with silk of various colors hanging off the walls. They looked soft and the light was gently reflected off their surfaces. Obviously, they were extremely pleasing to the eye. There were statues of various mythological beasts that had shields with many heraldic symbols engraved on them. There were also giant portraits, vases and other works of art on the sides. Overall, the throne room’s art collection was enchanting and mesmerizing, one couldn’t help but wish to stare at them for long periods of time.

The middle of the room was cleared of any objects and had a large red carpet that went in a straight line to an imposing structure that somewhat resembled a religious altar, the throne. It was large and very skillfully decorated, having many things carved and added to it and not looking gaudy but imposing.

And, finally, on the throne sat a middle-aged man with dull gold hair, sharp and refined features that was dressed in the attire and possessed an aura that was befitting of his position, the current king of Trelos-Agapi, Epipleon I.

Though the cap he wore had a ridiculous collar attached to it, looking as if someone tied a chair’s back behind his head. And the head ornament that on his head looked a lot like a shark’s fin, only it was around half a meter long, red and had strange and confusing patterns embroidered on it with gold thread, making his head appear inhumanly large and disproportionally long.

Jennifer was guided to the middle of the carpet and there she lowered her head, put her right hand on her heart, slightly lowered her torso, keeping the back straight, put her right foot about two and a half of its length forward, keeping it straight also, while bending the knee of the left one. It was the standard greeting posture that was taught to her the previous day. Normally she would have to perform the kind of greeting posture appropriate for meeting the royalty but as her identity was just too unique, being a Goddess’ champion and all, she was given the permission to have some freedom in this regard.

“It’s this one’s honor to meet the ruler of the people, Your Majesty”

Using the word “ruler” instead of “king” was Lachersia’s suggestion to Jennifer that was made to demonstrate that the interests of the latter were protected by the former. As Lachersia had enough authority to write a letter full of curses to the Prime Minister concerning the budget that was provided to her Academy and not only get away from it but have the Prime Minister raise the Academy’s budget twofold, her authority was great, not that Lachersia assumed that Jennifer would understand this small trick.

As expected, many eyes turned to Lachersia, though Jennifer didn’t seem to notice and just silently stood, waiting for a response.

“We greet this generation’s heroine. You may raise your head”

On that cue, Jennifer raised her head and returned to a more natural posture.

“As in these troubled times humanity has to face a great trial that threatens its future, our people have offered their sincere prayers and hopes to our Protector, Patron and Mistress, the Goddess of Fate, Lachesis. Her Divine Grace has answered the people’s prayers and sent down a champion to lead us through this trial. We, as the representative of the will of the people, ask the heroine sent to Us by the Goddess, to bring us salvation and peace. Do you accept this mission?”

“I agree to guide the people to salvation and peace, as the heroine of this generation”

This audience was actually nothing more than a pre-planned ceremony. The king delivers the mission to the heroine, the heroine accepts. There was no way for Jennifer to refuse. Yet, now that she had Lachersia behind her, who fought side by side with the previous generation’s hero and had a disapproving attitude towards summoning another hero from another world, she could veer off-script.

For example, saying “guide” instead of “bring” and adding “as the heroine of this generation” strongly implied her dissatisfaction with the way she was treated. Or it would, if not for the presence of Lachersia who was suspected to have taught the little girl those lines as a warning that bordered on being a threat.

Or it could also be the nervousness of the heroine who because of her young age and lack of experience forgot the right lines and had to improvise.

It would be impossible to know as on the chance that Lachersia was behind the whole thing, it would cause a lot of trouble to the internal affairs of the kingdom.

Nevertheless, the audience was promptly recorded and spread throughout the country. Its content wasn’t edited because of the chance that Lachersia wouldn’t wish for it to be or because it was a historical event of great significance, depending on one’s point of view and speculations.

The few sentences dealt a blow to the Royal authority and were a cause for many rumors and speculations about the heroine’s circumstances. Because of it, it attracted attention from other countries and the church, so the problem that was the new summoned heroine had to be treated even more delicately than before as if anything happened to the heroine in the Capital, it would become the king and kingdom’s fault and they would be suspected of deliberate harm to the champion of the Goddess and the heroine of the people.

Though it didn’t matter to Jennifer who had finished the ceremony and retired back to her residence with Lachersia in tow.

She was far more concerned about the context of today’s menu that would be prepared for her.

***

Claudia has gathered all the necessary materials and arrived at Jeremy’s former hideout. It was midnight, when spiritual activity was especially strong because the influence of the Sun was reduced to the minimum.

She began placing blue shining gems around the summoning circle, a hundred in total. As they were arranged in the mathematically precise formation, the power in them began to churn, causing them to vibrate and the air to hum. The entire place was filled with the aura of power in no time and it continued to build up until the moment when it reached a certain degree of saturation.

Then everything abruptly fell into silence and stillness as if time itself froze. The circle began to shine in blue, at first weekly and then it grew to be so bright it became blinding.

Claudia placed the seal that the archmage gave her on the main glyph in the meantime and smeared a drop of blood on it.

After it was done, the circle changed its glow. It became dazzling white. And in no time at all, the white had enveloped the entire apartment and Claudia had to close her eyes.

When she opened them again, she was surrounded by many people in colorful suits. She looked down and saw an identical circle to the one in Jeremy’s hideout.

She used her senses to probe her surroundings and was astonished to find how many spirits were in the air. On Earth, a hundred lesser spirits would be considered a fortune, yet in the place she stood the spirits were abundant, not to mention a hundred, there were thousands of them floating around free and unrestrained. The fact that the spirits were present in such a quantity was a sure sign of a common magic planet. A chosen mage like her could easily disrupt the balance of powers here.

Though none of it mattered to her as she realized that Jeremy wasn’t anywhere close by.

It seemed she had to put some more effort into searching for him.

***

Eliza suddenly found herself standing in the middle of a huge platform with many complex engravings on it. The stench of Divine Aura was unbearable. The fact that it wasn’t the Divine Aura of the Gods she worshiped and the sight of many people in priest robes meant that she was caught up in a very typical scenario. Which reminded her of a visitor she had a few days ago who was searching for the traces of some kind of transportation circle that was powered by a god.

And sure enough, certain glyphs suggested the involvement of that deity, though this time it wasn’t as direct and the work was done by another god who had some kind of relation to the first.

As most other worshipers of the Gods that were patrons to necromancers, she was a zealous believer whose faith bordered on fanaticism. And being kidnapped by the worshippers of any other God was a great insult to her pride.

Being the chosen mage she was, she could easily dispose of everybody in the room now that Earth’s strict rules and the environment that rendered most magic effectively useless no longer held her back. And just as she prepared to do so, she received a direct revelation from one of her venerated deities to follow along with the mortals that brought her to their world. She also received the news that her fated person that she had been chasing for the few last years was also brought to this world.

Hearing the news, Eliza’s usual expression of lack of caring disappeared and she smiled.

This time she won’t let him get away.